Medical bank starts emergency helpline to address blood shortage

Kolkata: Medical Bank has opened emergency helpline to cope with the shortage of blood during the Durga Puja.

In case of any emergency, people can call 98310-62157, D Ashis, secretary of Medical Bank said.

He said as there are few blood donation camps because of the Puja, there is severe shortage in the blood banks. There are 70 blood banks run by the state government in the state while another 16 are run by the Centre along with 35 private blood banks. The annual requirement in the state is around 15 lakh units while around 11.5 lakh units are collected through various blood donation camps.

D Ashis said it is really unfortunate that most of the Puja committees are not concerned about the shortage of blood. "Thousands of people from other states and countries come to Kolkata during Durga Puja and if they need blood, it will difficult to get a unit."

To address this issue, it would have been ideal had the Puja committees put up the hoardings containing

the names of the persons willing to donate blood during the Pujas.

Also, though the state-run blood banks are open during the Durga Puja, no collection and examination of blood samples are done after sundown because of shortage of staff.

He urged the state government to open the examination of blood samples facilities round the clock.